Piano Playing Police Officer to Display Classical Skills at Recital on March 20 (Photo)

A piano playing cop? It's true, but you have to see it to believe it. Don't miss this unique performance by one of Portland Police Bureau's long-time police officers. Not only does he catch bad guys, he can passionately and skillfully play Chopin.

On Thursday, March 20, 2014, at 7:00 p.m., The Snowman Foundation and Portland Piano Company will host a special recital featuring Sergeant Jim Quackenbush from the Portland Police Bureau, T. Walker Anderson and Mikayla Harris, seniors at Washougal High School, and Cammie Lee, an eighth grader at Meadow Park Middle School in Beaverton and the 2014 winner of Metropolitan Youth Symphony's Concerto Competition. Music by Frederic Chopin, Bruch, Beethoven, and, of course, Michael Jackson.

This special event is free to the public and will be held at the Portland Piano Company, located at 711 Southwest 14th Avenue.

Sergeant Quackenbush has a Bachelor of Music degree with a concentration in Piano Performance from Western Washington University. Graduating Magna Cum Laude, Sergeant Quackenbush was the recipient of numerous awards including the Presser Foundation Scholarship and the William Sanford Piano Scholarship. He won the university concerto competition twice and in 1996 was the first place Collegiate Artist winner for the Washington State Music Teacher's National Association. He was twice selected as one of 26 pianists internationally to study at the Van Cliburn Piano Institute in Fort Worth, Texas. Sergeant Quackenbush also studied at the Dalcroze Institute of the Julliard School in New York City.

In 1999, Sergeant Quackenbush joined the Portland Police Bureau and currently works as a Sergeant at Central Precinct. He will be performing as a guest at Ten Grands on April 19, 2014, at The Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Sergeant Quackenbush also participated in a Police Bureau video about a unique partnership with The Snowman Foundation's Play It Forward program, http://youtu.be/0u64mh2kEX4

T. Walker Anderson and Mikayla Harris are a musical duo from East Clark County and will be performing at Ten Grands for Kids on April 18, 2014. Harris is involved in the Chamber Choir, has participated in school plays and musicals and has been playing guitar for three years. She was also a semi-finalist in Portland Teen Idol twice! Anderson is a long-time Snowman Foundation recipient as he is currently on a piano lessons scholarship with Michael Allen Harrison and was also the recipient of a grand piano through The Snowman Foundation's Play It Forward program. Through Play It Forward, community donors give instruments that are no longer being used and the foundation places them with a young student passionate about music.

Cammie Lee started playing the piano at age of eight and studies with Patricia Scordato. She has won multiple Oregon Music Teachers Association (OMTA) Classical and Romantic piano competitions. Outside of music, she enjoys drawing, reading, writing, swimming, and skiing. In her community, she is involved with Hands on Portland, Oregon Food Bank and volunteers at her church. This is Lee's seventh season with Metropolitan Youth Symphony.

For more information about this event or The Snowman Foundation, contact Amy Johnson, The Snowman Foundation Manager, at (503) 318-3582 or amy@snowmanfoundation.org